Electric vehicle thermal management system with series and parallel structure

ABSTRACT

Electric vehicle thermal management systems and electric vehicles using the thermal management system, are disclosed. A passenger cabin is heated by the heat dissipated from a battery and/or a motor. A cooling circuit in the management system fluidly connects the battery, the motor and a first radiator in series. The first radiator provides a heat source to the passenger cabin by means of the heat dissipated from the battery and/or the electric motor. Under certain conditions, the electric motor is selectively separated from the cooling circuit, so that when the passenger cabin needs to be heated, the thermal management system can provide heat to the passenger cabin without affecting the heat dissipation of the battery.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of Non-Provisional applicationSer. No. 14/816,064, filed Aug. 3, 2015, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/133,991, filed on Mar. 16, 2015,and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/150,848, filed on Apr.22, 2015, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to thermalmanagement systems for vehicles, and particularly relate to the field ofelectric vehicles.

A battery can be used as the power source of an electric vehicle, andthe endurance mileage of the electric vehicle is a particularlyimportant aspect of the vehicle. The temperature in a passenger cabin ofan existing electric vehicle is generally adjusted by an airconditioning system, in order to maintain the temperature in thepassenger cabin within a range that makes people feel comfortable. Thebattery is also used as the energy source of the air conditioningsystem, and this generally consumes more battery energy to influence theendurance mileage of the electric vehicle.

SUMMARY

In view of the above problems, aspects of the present disclosure areintended to provide an electric vehicle thermal management system, whichmay be used for effectively saving the electric power of electricvehicles, and electric vehicles using such thermal management systems.

According to a first aspect of the disclosure, an electric vehiclethermal management system for heating a passenger cabin of an electricvehicle by means of heat absorbed from a battery and/or an electricmotor of the electric vehicle is provided. The thermal management systemmay include one or more of a cooling circuit used for circulatingcooling liquid, wherein a battery, an electric motor and a firstradiator are fluidly connected in series in the cooling circuit, so thatthe cooling liquid in the cooling circuit can cool the battery and/orthe electric motor to absorb heat. In embodiments, the first radiatormay provide a heat source to the passenger cabin by dissipating the heatabsorbed by the cooling liquid. In embodiments, the electric motor maybe selectively separated from the cooling circuit.

In embodiments, the cooling circuit may include a first part pathfluidly connecting the battery and the first radiator, wherein the firstpart path is provided with a first part path inlet for the inflow of thecooling liquid and a first part path outlet for the outflow of thecooling liquid. In embodiments, the cooling circuit may include a secondpart path fluidly connecting the electric motor, wherein the second partpath is provided with a second part path inlet for the inflow of thecooling liquid and a second part path outlet for the outflow of thecooling liquid. The system may also include a switching deviceconfigured to connect the first part path outlet with the second partpath inlet and connect the second part path outlet with the first partpath inlet at the first state, so as to fluidly connect the battery, theelectric motor and the first radiator in series. The switching devicemay also be configured to connect the first part path outlet with thefirst part path inlet at the second state, so as to separate theelectric motor from said cooling circuit.

In some examples, the switching device may connect the second part pathoutlet with the second part path inlet at the second state, so that theelectric motor is connected to another cooling circuit independent fromsaid cooling circuit.

In some examples, the electric motor may be connected to another coolingcircuit, independent from said cooling circuit, after the electric motoris separated from the cooling circuit.

In some examples, the first radiator can be separated from said coolingcircuit when the passenger cabin does not need to be heated.

Embodiments may also include a controller configured to control theswitching device to switch between the first state and the second stateaccording to the working condition of the battery.

Embodiments may also include a second radiator, wherein the secondradiator is arranged to dissipate heat to the outside of the vehicle,and the second radiator is selectively connected in the second partpath.

Embodiments may also include a refrigerator for exchanging heat with thefirst part path. In some embodiments, the refrigerator may beselectively separated from the first part path according to, forexample, the temperature of the battery.

According to further aspects of the disclosure, an electric vehicle isprovided, including a thermal management system as described herein.

Compared with other methods, embodiments of the disclosure may provide,at least in part, advantages such as effective heat dissipation of thecomponents which generate heat, and meanwhile, the heat generated by thecomponents are effectively transmitted to the passenger cabin, so as toheat the passenger cabin when necessary. Therefore, the electric powerof the electric vehicle can be effectively saved to increase theendurance mileage of the electric vehicle.

Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may beset forth or apparent from consideration of the following detaileddescription, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood thatboth the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detaileddescription are exemplary and intended to provide further explanationwithout limiting the scope of the invention claimed. The detaileddescription and the specific examples, however, indicate only preferredembodiments of the invention. Various changes and modifications withinthe spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the detailed description serve to explain the principlesof the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of theinvention in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamentalunderstanding of the invention and various ways in which it may bepracticed. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a structural block diagram of a first working mode of anelectric vehicle thermal management system according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic view of the first working mode inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a structural block diagram of a second working mode of theelectric vehicle thermal management system according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a more detailed schematic view of the second working mode inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a control block diagram of the electric vehicle thermalmanagement system according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a structural block diagram of a third working mode of theelectric vehicle thermal management system according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure; and

FIG. 7 shows a structural block diagram of a fourth working mode of theelectric vehicle thermal management system according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedbelow with reference to the drawings constituting a part of thedescription. It should be understood that, although terms representingdirections are used in the present disclosure, such as “front”, “rear”,“upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, and the like, for describing variousexemplary structural parts and elements of the present disclosure, theseterms are used herein only for the purpose of convenience of explanationand are determined based on the exemplary orientations shown in thedrawings. Since the embodiments disclosed by the present disclosure canbe arranged according to different directions, these terms representingdirections are merely used for illustration and should not be regardedas limiting. Wherever possible, the same or similar reference marks usedin the present disclosure refer to the same components.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical terms used herein have the samemeanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich the invention pertains. The embodiments of the invention and thevarious features and advantageous details thereof are explained morefully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and examples thatare described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings anddetailed in the following description. It should be noted that thefeatures illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale,and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments asthe skilled artisan would recognize, even if not explicitly statedherein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniquesmay be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of theinvention. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate anunderstanding of ways in which the invention may be practiced and tofurther enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments ofthe invention. Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein shouldnot be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, which isdefined solely by the appended claims and applicable law. Moreover, itis noted that like reference numerals reference similar parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

Exemplary electric vehicle thermal management systems according toaspects of the present disclosure may be capable of supplying heat to apassenger cabin by means of the heat dissipation of a battery and anelectric motor of an electric vehicle. For example, such thermalmanagement systems may be configured connect a cooling liquid flow pathof the battery and/or the electric motor to a radiator capable ofdissipating heat into the passenger cabin, and the radiator suppliesheat to the passenger cabin through the heat absorbed by cooling liquidfrom the battery and/or the electric motor. The thermal managementsystems may have a variety of working modes, which are determined bywhether the passenger cabin needs heat supply and/or whether thetemperature of the battery exceeds a normal working range.

Various working modes of thermal management systems according to thepresent disclosure will be described below in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 show various working modes of an exemplary thermalmanagement system according to aspects of the present disclosure whenthe passenger cabin needs heat supply.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a structural block diagramof the first working mode of an exemplary thermal management systemaccording to aspects of the present disclosure. According to FIG. 1, afirst radiator 104 is arranged near a passenger cabin 1, the heatdissipated from the first radiator heats the passenger cabin 1, and theheat source of the first radiator 104 is from the heat dissipated fromthe battery 101 and the electric motor 102 of the electric vehicle. Theelectric vehicle thermal management system includes a cooling circuitused for circulating cooling liquid, wherein the battery 101, theelectric motor 102 and the first radiator 104 are fluidly connected inseries in the cooling circuit, so that the cooling liquid in the coolingcircuit can cool the battery 101 and the electric motor 102 and transmitthe heat dissipated from the battery 101 and the electric motor 102 tothe first radiator 104, so as to supply heat to the passenger cabin 1through the first radiator 104.

The battery 101 and the electric motor 102 are connected in series inthe cooling circuit to effectively transmit the heat of two componentswhich generate heat to the first radiator 104, in order to quickly heatthe passenger cabin, so that the heating efficiency is high. This isparticularly useful when the environment temperature is low.

FIG. 3 shows a structural block diagram of a second working mode of anexemplary thermal management system according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. In this embodiment, the electric motor 102 is separated fromthe cooling circuit where the first radiator as shown in FIG. 1 isconnected. At that time, in the cooling circuit where the first radiatoris connected, only the first radiator 104 and the battery 101 areconnected in series, and the first radiator 104 heats the passengercabin 1 via the heat dissipated from the battery 101.

This working mode may be selected, for example, according to thetemperature of the battery. Since the battery 101 may be very sensitiveto temperature, the heat dissipation of the battery 101 may need to bepreferentially guaranteed. Normally, the passenger cabin 1 can besimultaneously heated by the heat dissipated from the battery 101 andthe electric motor 102, but when the temperature of the battery isrelatively high, in order to ensure the effective heat dissipation ofthe battery 101, separating the electric motor 102 from the coolingcircuit can effectively shorten the heat dissipation circuit of thebattery 101 and prevent the heat of the electric motor 102 frominfluencing the heat dissipation of the battery 101, and meanwhile,since the battery 101 continues to provide heat to the first radiator104, the heat supply of the passenger cabin 1 is still well guaranteed.In this working mode, the heat of the component which generates heat(namely the battery) is effectively transmitted to the passenger cabin 1without affecting the heat dissipation of the component.

After the electric motor 102 is separated from the cooling circuit wherethe first radiator is connected, the electric motor 102 may dissipateheat through another cooling circuit 108 independent from the coolingcircuit where the first radiator is connected. This guarantees that theheat of the electric motor 102 can be dissipated after it is separatedfrom the cooling circuit, and the heat dissipation of the battery is notinfluenced by the heat of the electric motor 102.

Reference is made now to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. FIG. 6 and FIG. 7respectively show a third working mode and the fourth working mode of anexemplary thermal management system according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. At the two working modes, since the passenger cabin does notneed heat supply due to a higher environment temperature, the firstradiator 104 is separated from the cooling circuit. In the third workingmode as shown in FIG. 6, the first radiator 104 is separated from thecooling circuit, and the battery 101 and the electric motor 102 areconnected in series in the cooling circuit. In the fourth working modeas shown in FIG. 7, the first radiator 104 is separated from the coolingcircuit, and the battery 101 and the electric motor 102 are respectivelyconnected in two independent cooling circuits. When the temperature ofthe battery 101 is normal, the thermal management system may operate atthe third working mode, and when the temperature of the battery 101 istoo high, the thermal management system may be switched to the fourthworking mode.

Some components that may be used in exemplary cooling circuits of thethermal management system are described below in order to illustrate howthe above-mentioned various working modes may be switched.

Looking at FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 first, FIG. 2 shows a more detailedschematic view of the first working mode in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1,the cooling circuit includes a first part path (A), and the first partpath (A) fluidly connects the battery 101 and the first radiator 104. Asshown in FIG. 2, the first part path (A) is provided with a first partpath inlet 1052 for the inflow of the cooling liquid and a first partpath outlet 1051 for the outflow of the cooling liquid. The coolingcircuit further includes a second part path (B), wherein the second partpath (B) fluidly connects the electric motor 102, and the second partpath (B) is provided with a second part path inlet 1054 for the inflowof the cooling liquid and a second part path outlet 1053 for the outflowof the cooling liquid. The first part path (A) and the second part path(B) are connected and separated by a switching device 105.

Specifically, the switching device 105 has two states, FIG. 2 shows thefirst state of the switching device 105, and FIG. 4 shows the secondstate of the switching device. At the first state as shown in FIG. 2,the switching device 105 connects the first part path outlet 1051 withthe second part path inlet 1054 and connects the second part path outlet1053 with the first part path inlet 1052, so as to connect the firstpart path (A) with the second part path (B), namely, the battery 101,the electric motor 102 and the first radiator 104 are connected inseries in the cooling circuit. At the second state as shown in FIG. 4,the switching device 105 connects the first part path outlet 1051 withthe first part path inlet 1052 so as to separate the first part path (A)from the second part path (B), namely, the electric motor 102 isseparated from the cooling circuit of the battery. At the second state,the switching device 105 further connects the second part path outletwith the second part path inlet so as to form another cooling circuitfor independently cooling the electric motor 102. Thus, the thermalmanagement system may be switched to the second working mode as shown inFIG. 3.

The switching device 105 can be selected, for example, from a four-wayvalve or the combination of multiple three-way valves.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, pumps 103, 103′ are respectivelyconnected in the first part path (A) and the second part path (B) forconveying the cooling liquid to the components to be cooled in the pathsand determining the flow rate of the cooling liquid in the paths. Acooling liquid source 109 may be connected with the cooling circuit andused for supplementing the cooling liquid for the cooling circuit whenthe cooling liquid in the cooling circuit is lost.

The first radiator 104 is connected with the cooling circuit through aswitch 113. At the two working modes as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, theswitch 113 is turned on to connect the first radiator 104 into thecooling circuit, so as to supply heat to the passenger cabin. When thepassenger cabin does not need heat supply, the switch 113 may be turnedoff, so as to separate the first radiator 104 from the cooling circuit.At that time, the thermal management system can be in the working modesas shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, a second radiator 108 may also beprovided in the thermal management system. The second radiator 108 isarranged to selectively connected in the cooling circuit to dissipatethe heat absorbed from the cooling circuit to the outside of thevehicle. When the second radiator 108 is connected in the coolingcircuit, the thermal management system can be in the working modes asshown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.

Reference is made to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 again, in which the secondradiator 108 is connected to the second part path (B) through a switch112. When the switch is turned on, the second radiator 108 may beconnected with the second part path (B), and then, the thermalmanagement system can be in the working modes as shown in FIG. 6 andFIG. 7. When the switch is turned off, the second radiator 108 may bedisconnected with the second part path (B), and then, the thermalmanagement system can be in the working modes as shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 3.

For the working mode as shown in FIG. 6, the battery 101, the electricmotor 102 and the second radiator 108 are connected in series, and theheat of the battery 101 and the electric motor 102 are dissipated to theoutside of the vehicle by the second radiator 108; for the working modeas shown in FIG. 7, the electric motor 102 and the second radiator 108are connected in series in the second part path, while the heat of thebattery 101 is not dissipated to the outside of the vehicle by thesecond radiator 108, and only the heat of the electric motor 102 isdissipated to the outside of the vehicle by the second radiator 108.

Reference is still made to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, which show an example of arefrigerator 106 that may also be provided in the thermal managementsystem, e.g. for being selectively connected in the cooling circuitaccording to the temperature of the battery. The refrigerator 106 cancool the cooling liquid in the cooling circuit to enable the coolingliquid to better cool the components which have high temperature. Sincethe battery 101 has a higher requirement on the working temperaturecompared with other components, for example, the electric motor 102, therefrigerator 106 is preferably arranged to be selectively connected withthe first part path (A), in order to quickly cool the battery 101 whenthe temperature of the battery 101 is too high. For example, therefrigerator 106 may be connected to the first part path (A) through aswitch 111, and when the temperature of the battery 101 is too high andthe cooling liquid needs to be cooled, the switch 111 may be turned onto connect the refrigerator 106 in the first part path (A); when thecooling liquid does not need to be cooled, the switch 111 may be turnedoff to separate the refrigerator 106 from the first part path (A). Inother embodiments, the refrigerator 106 can be connected to otherpositions of the cooling circuit.

The switch 113, the switch 111 and the switch 112 can use, for example,three-way valves. The switch 113 and the switch 111 may be constituted,for example, from two three-way valves.

A heater 107 may also be provided in the thermal management system, andthe heater 107 may be connected in the first part path (A) toselectively heat the cooling liquid flowing to the battery.Specifically, the heater 107 is arranged upstream of the battery 101,namely, the cooling liquid firstly flows through the heater 107 and thenflows through the battery 101, and a control device 201 controls theheater 107 to start or stop, in order to select to heat the coolingliquid or not. Due to this arrangement, the battery 101 can be quicklyheated when the temperature of the battery 101 is low.

Besides the electric motor 102, other components 110 which can generateheat in the electric vehicle, for example, a charger and the like, canalso be connected in the second part path (B) so that the othercomponents 110 which can generate heat can be cooled by the second partpath. When the switching device 105 is at the first state, the heat ofthe other components 110 which can generate heat is also transmitted tothe first radiator 104 to provide heat to the passenger cabin 1.

The control flow of an exemplary electric vehicle thermal managementsystem according to aspects of the present disclosure will beillustrated below with reference to the control block diagram of theelectric vehicle thermal management system as shown in FIG. 5. As shownin FIG. 5, a passenger cabin temperature sensor 204, a batterytemperature sensor 203, a motor temperature sensor 202 and the controldevice 201 may be provided in the electric vehicle thermal managementsystem. The passenger cabin temperature sensor 204, the batterytemperature sensor 203 and the motor temperature sensor 202 respectivelydetect the temperatures of the passenger cabin, the battery and themotor and transmit the detected temperatures to the control device 201.The control device 201 controls the actions of the pump 103, theswitching device 105, the switch 111, the switch 112, the switch 113 andthe heater 107 according to comprehensive judgments of temperatures ofthe devices and an external passenger instruction, so as to switch thethermal management system among the various working modes.

When the vehicle is at a normal running state, the control device 201firstly determines to connect the first radiator 104 in the coolingcircuit or connect the second radiator 108 in the cooling circuitaccording to an instruction sent by the passenger indicating whether thepassenger cabin need heat supply.

Normally, if an instruction from the passenger indicating whether thepassenger cabin need heat supply has not been received, the secondradiator 108 is connected in the cooling circuit to dissipate the heatabsorbed by the cooling circuit to the outside of the vehicle, while thefirst radiator 104 is separated from the cooling circuit.

When the passenger sends an instruction indicating to supply heat to thepassenger cabin, the control device 201 controls the switch 112 of thesecond radiator 108 to turn off to separate the second radiator 108 fromthe cooling circuit, and controls the switch 113 of the first radiator104 to turn on to connect the first radiator 104 in the cooling circuit.Then, the control device 201 judges whether the battery 101 and theelectric motor 102 are within normal working temperature rangesaccording to the temperatures detected by the battery temperature sensor203 and the motor temperature sensor 202. If it is judged that both thebattery 101 and the electric motor 102 are within the normal workingtemperature ranges, the control device 201 controls the switching device105 to be at the first state, and then, the battery 101, the electricmotor 102 and the first radiator 104 are fluidly connected in series,and the battery 101 and the electric motor 102 heat the passenger cabin1 at the same time. When the temperature of the battery 101 exceeds thenormal working temperature range, the control device 201 controls theswitching device 105 to be at the second state and controls the switch112 of the second radiator 108 to turn on, and then the battery 101 andthe electric motor 102 are respectively connected in different coolingcircuits, the first radiator 104 supplies heat to the passenger cabin bymeans of the temperature of the battery, and the heat of the motor 102can be dissipated by the second radiator to the outside of the vehicle.At that time, the control device 201 can also control the switch 111 ofthe refrigerator 106 to turn on to connect the refrigerator 106 with thecooling circuit, in order to cool the cooling liquid flowing through thebattery via the refrigerator 106 to further accelerate the cooling ofthe battery. Moreover, no matter whether the switching device 105 is atthe first state or the second state, the control device 201 can judgewhether there is a need to control the pumps 103, 103′ to accelerateaccording to the temperatures of the battery 101 and the electric motor102, in order to accelerate the flow rate of the cooling liquid in thecooling circuit to speed up the cooling rate.

When the vehicle is just started, according to the temperature of thebattery 101, the control device 201 further needs to judge whether thereis a need to heat the battery, in order to quickly heat up the batteryto a degree that is enough for the battery to operate normally. If it isjudged that the battery needs to be heated, the control device 201controls the heater 107 to start, the heat of the heater 107 will helpto heat the battery 101, at that time, the switching device 105 iscontrolled and switched to the second state, namely the battery 101 andthe electric motor 102 are respectively connected in different coolingcircuits, in order to prevent the heat of the heater 107 frominfluencing the temperature of the electric motor 102.

In addition, when the temperature of the passenger cabin is low or whenthe passenger instructs to heat the passenger cabin, the control device201 can control the heater 107 to start, and the heat provided by theheater 107 will also supply heat to the passenger cabin 1.

According to the instruction sent by the passenger indicating not tosupply heat to the passenger cabin, the control device 201 can alsocontrol the switch 113 of the first radiator 104 to turn off to separatethe first radiator 104 from the cooling circuit and control the switch112 of the second radiator 108 to turn on to connect the second radiator108 in the cooling circuit.

By adopting the above-mentioned heat exchange system, variousembodiments of the present disclosure may supply heat to the passengercabin by using the heat absorbed by the cooling liquid from the batteryand/or the electric motor, so that the electric power of the electricvehicle can be effectively utilized to increase the endurance mileage ofthe electric vehicle.

The present disclosure further provides an electric vehicle using theabove-mentioned vehicle thermal management system, the other parts ofthe electric vehicle can adopt the structure of existing electricvehicles, with a vehicle thermal management system as described herein,and will not be repeated redundantly.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to thespecific embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood thatthe lightweight fastening methods provided by the present disclosure canhave a variety of variations without departing from the spirit, scopeand background of the present disclosure. The description given above ismerely illustrative and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of allpossible embodiments, applications or modifications of the invention.Those of ordinary skill in the art should be still aware that,parameters in the embodiments disclosed by the present disclosure can bechanged in different manners, and these changes shall fall within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure and the claims. Thus, variousmodifications and variations of the described methods and systems of theinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric vehicle thermal management system forheating a passenger cabin of an electric vehicle by means of heatabsorbed from at least a battery and an electric motor of the electricvehicle, comprising: a battery temperature sensor configured to detect abattery temperature of the battery; a first radiator; a cooling circuitfor circulating cooling liquid, such that the cooling liquid in thecooling circuit cools at least one of the battery and the electric motorby absorbing heat from the at least one of the battery and the electricmotor; one or more switching devices configured to switch the coolingcircuit to different configurations such that in a first configuration,the electric motor, the battery and the first radiator are fluidlyconnected in series through the cooling circuit such that the firstradiator dissipates heat absorbed from the battery and the electricmotor into the vehicle; and in a second configuration, the battery andradiator, but not the electric motor, are fluidly connected in seriesthrough the cooling circuit such that the first radiator dissipates heatabsorbed from the battery but not from the electric motor into thevehicle; and a controller configured to effectuate the cooling circuitbeing configured from the first configuration to the secondconfiguration via the one or more switching devices in response to thebattery sensor detecting the battery temperature is above a firstthreshold temperature.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: asecond radiator; and, wherein the one or more switch devices are furtherconfigured to switch the cooling circuit to a third configuration suchthat the electric motor, the battery and the second radiator, but notthe first radiator, are fluidly connected in series through the coolingcircuit such that the second radiator dissipates heat from the batteryand the electric motor out of the vehicle; and the control is furtherconfigured to switch the cooling circuit from the third configuration tothe first configuration in response to receiving an instruction from auser indicating additional heat is need in the cabin of the vehicle. 3.The system of claim 1, further comprising: a motor temperature sensorconfigured to detect a motor temperature of the electrical vehicle; andwherein the controller is further configured to effectuate the coolingcircuit being configured from the second configuration to the firstconfiguration via the one or more switching devices in response to thebattery temperature being lower than the first threshold temperature andthe electric motor temperature being lower than a second thresholdtemperature.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein: when the first radiatoris separated from said cooling circuit, the motor and the battery are atleast one of connected in said cooling circuit or respectively connectedin different cooling circuits.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein: thecooling circuit comprises: a first part path fluidly connecting thebattery and the first radiator, wherein the first part path is providedwith a first part path inlet for the inflow of the cooling liquid and afirst part path outlet for the outflow of the cooling liquid, a secondpart path fluidly connecting the electric motor, wherein the second partpath is provided with a second part path inlet for the inflow of thecooling liquid and a second part path outlet for the outflow of thecooling liquid and, wherein the one or more switching device areconfigured to: connect the first part path outlet with the second partpath inlet and connect the second part path outlet with the first partpath inlet at the first state, so as to fluidly connect the battery, theelectric motor and the first radiator in series; and connect the firstpart path outlet with the first part path inlet at the second state, soas to separate the electric motor from said cooling circuit.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the one or more switching devices areconfigured to connect the second part path outlet with the second partpath inlet at the second state, so that the electric motor is connectedto another cooling circuit independent from said cooling circuit.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, further comprising: a refrigerator for exchangingheat with the first part path; the refrigerator is selectively separatedfrom the first part path according to the temperature of the battery. 8.The system of claim 6, further comprising: a heater, wherein the heateris connected in the first part path; and, wherein the controller isfurther configured to control the start or stop of the heater.
 9. Thesystem of claim 5, further comprising: a refrigerator for exchangingheat with the first part path; the refrigerator is selectively separatedfrom the first part path according to the temperature of the battery.10. The system of claim 5, further comprising: a heater, wherein theheater is connected in the first part path; and, wherein the controldevice is configured to control the heater to start or stop.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising: a cooling liquid sourceconnecting with the cooling circuit for supplementing cooling liquid tothe cooling circuit.
 12. An electric vehicle, comprising: a passengercabin; a battery; an electric motor configured to be powered by thebattery; and a thermal management system configured for heating thepassenger cabin by means of heat absorbed from at least one of thebattery and the electric motor, the thermal management system includinga cooling circuit for circulating cooling liquid, such that the coolingliquid in the cooling circuit cools at least one of the battery and theelectric motor by absorbing heat from the at least one of the batteryand the electric motor; one or more switching devices configured toswitch the cooling circuit to different configurations such that in afirst configuration, the electric motor, the battery and the firstradiator are fluidly connected in series through the cooling circuitsuch that the first radiator dissipates heat absorbed from the batteryand the electric motor into the vehicle; and in a second configuration,the battery and radiator, but not the electric motor, are fluidlyconnected in series through the cooling circuit such that the firstradiator dissipates heat absorbed from the battery but not from theelectric motor into the vehicle; and a controller configured toeffectuate the cooling circuit being configured from the firstconfiguration to the second configuration via the one or more switchingdevices in response to the battery sensor detecting the batterytemperature is above a first threshold temperature.
 13. The vehicle ofclaim 12, wherein: the cooling circuit comprises: a first part pathfluidly connecting the battery and the first radiator, wherein the firstpart path is provided with a first part path inlet for the inflow of thecooling liquid and a first part path outlet for the outflow of thecooling liquid, a second part path fluidly connecting the electricmotor, wherein the second part path is provided with a second part pathinlet for the inflow of the cooling liquid and a second part path outletfor the outflow of the cooling liquid, the thermal management one ormore a switching device configured to: connect the first part pathoutlet with the second part path inlet and connect the second part pathoutlet with the first part path inlet at the first state, so as tofluidly connect the battery, the electric motor and the first radiatorin series; and connect the first part path outlet with the first partpath inlet at the second state, so as to separate the electric motorfrom said cooling circuit.
 14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the oneor more switching devices are configured to connect the second part pathoutlet with the second part path inlet at the second state, so that theelectric motor is connected to another cooling circuit independent fromsaid cooling circuit.
 15. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the thermalmanagement system further comprises: a second radiator; and, wherein theone or more switch devices are further configured to switch the coolingcircuit to a third configuration such that the electric motor, thebattery and the second radiator, but not the first radiator, are fluidlyconnected in series through the cooling circuit such that the secondradiator dissipates heat form the battery and the electric motor out ofthe vehicle; and the control is further configured to switch the coolingcircuit from the third configuration to the first configuration inresponse to receiving an instruction from a user indicating additionalheat is need in the cabin of the vehicle.
 16. The vehicle of claim 13,wherein the thermal management system further comprises: a motortemperature sensor configured to detect a motor temperature of theelectrical vehicle; and wherein the controller is further configured toeffectuate the cooling circuit being configured from the secondconfiguration to the first configuration via the one or more switchingdevices in response to the battery temperature being lower than the firsthreshold temperature and the electric motor temperature being lowerthan a second threshold temperature.
 17. The vehicle of claim 13,wherein when the first radiator is separated from said cooling circuit,the motor and the battery are at least one of connected in said coolingcircuit or respectively connected in different cooling circuits.